Marketing Tips Blog
Marketing Tips Blog
I’m a Writer, Not a Salesperson!
You’re a pastor. Or maybe an elder in your local church. You might be a stay-at-home mom or a teacher. But you’re probably not a professional salesperson. So now that you’ve written a book, it needs to be sold and you’re feeling a little squeamish. Why? Because it’s likely that your initial “customers” will be friends and family, and that feels awkward. You don’t want to be that friend or family member who is selling a product and making everyone feel obligated to buy it. And yet, you need the support and word-of-mouth marketing of your inner circle. So how do you sell your book to those closest to you without it getting all weird? Here are three ways:
Be Confident
More than likely your book is the result of years worth of prayer, reflection, research and
sustained effort. You’ve sacrificed time and money to produce the manuscript. You’ve edited,
re-edited and re-edited again. You’ve agonized over words, commas and even deleted entire chapters.
This book contains your highest thoughts and deepest revelations. It may even be the result of God’s
call on your life. If so…be confident. Be proud. Be assured that your writing is amazing and will
greatly benefit those who read it. The temptation will be to say something like this,
Uncle Mike, I hate to be pushy, but it would really mean a lot to me if you would buy my book.
Instead, try this,
Uncle Mike, you know how I’ve always been passionate about worship? Well, I’ve finally written down
all the things that God has taught me and I would love for you to read it. In fact, you mentioned recently
that you had some misgivings about your church’s worship style. I think you might find some helpful advice in my book.
See, your book has value. Don’t be embarrassed about that. Imagine that you are hosting Christmas dinner
for all your relatives. You carefully plan the menu and even practice the recipes. After some refining,
the big day comes and you meticulously prepare all the dishes. As you set the food in front of your guests,
do you apologize for it? No. You are excited for them to try it! You truly believe that this meal will
bring them joy as well as nourishment. You should view your writing in the same way. As a gift and a
blessing to those who read it.
Be Helpful
Which tagline for a stain-remover would be most effective to a mom of young kids?
Five Ways to Remove Baby Food Stains
or
Buy Our Stain Remover!
Of course, it is the first one. Why? Because it offers a solution to that mom. How will your
book help people? Will it provide encouragement to the depressed? Hope to the addict? Maybe
it gives pastors’ wives the tools to keep their sanity. Or it educates on the history of the
Jewish people. As you promote your book to friends and family, think of ways that it can help
them and become a tool in their spiritual toolbox. This approach will take you much farther
than simply constantly asking, “Will you please buy my book?”
Be Authentic
If you weren’t a pushy salesperson before you wrote your book, please don’t become one now.
We’ve all seen it. The acquaintance who suddenly becomes ultra-friendly only to lay on the
sales pitch for some product or another.
Books… actually most products… are best sold through meaningful connections. In his bestselling
book Your First 1000 Copies (a book we highly recommend), Tim Grahl states,
Let’s sum up what marketing is and should be.
Marketing isn’t sleazy car salesman tactics.
Marketing isn’t tricking people into buying.
Markting isn’t unethical.
Marketing isn’t intrusive self-promotion.
Marketing is two things: (1) creating lasting connections with people through (2) a focus on being relentlessly helpful.
Be confident. Be helpful. Be authentic. These three attributes will start you off on the right foot as you venture into the world of marketing.
At Certa Publishing, we believe that our authors’ books offer tremendous value and we stand ready to help you reach the readers that need the wisdom your book offers.
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Social Media: Going Beyond the Basics
It took you a while, but you’ve embraced social media. You’ve taken the plunge and established yourself on Twitter, Facebook and maybe even Instagram. You’re enjoying the feedback and extra exposure it’s giving you, and you’re seeing the value of the online interactions your work is receiving. But now you’re stuck. How do you take it to the next level? Now you’re back to feeling intimidated again. Never fear, we are here to help! Here’s a quick primer on the writer’s Big Three: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It doesn’t have to be as intimidating as you think.
Tweet Like a Pro
Twitter is mostly comprised of strangers having conversations. Weird, right? It’s true. So keep
that in mind with your posts. Ann Handley, author of Everybody Writes (a book we highly recommend), says,
Tweets work best as dialogue, because dialogue establishes rapport and encourages interaction. [However,] even though you might be talking to strangers on Twitter, you’re still talking to people. So write every tweet as you would speak it… to your girlfriend, boyfriend, significant other, dog, cat… or whoever…
Key Strategies for Twitter
- Don’t just pitch your wares. Instead, provide help, information and problem-solving.
- Put a face on your business by giving your followers a glimpse into your personality and perspective. But be careful of being too personal.
- Show that your story is apart of a larger movement. Maybe you write books about how you overcame addiction. Use Twitter to champion causes and groups that work in this area.
- Make your English teacher proud. Just because Twitter is a brief platform doesn’t mean you should sacrifice spelling and grammar. It matters, no matter the platform.
Get the Most Out of Facebook
- Photos are essential for Facebook. There are lots of great sources of images: your personal photos that relate to the topic, images you’ve used in your blog, your headshot and your book cover. Great images can also be found online, either through paid sites like BigStockPhoto.com or through several high-quality free stock photo sites like those listed here.
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Facebook is free, but it isn’t. Thanks to a change in their algorithms, Facebook has made it difficult
to reach your audience without paying to “boost” your ad. However, just a few dollars can go a long way.
And then you can take advantage of Facebook’s massive amount of user data, which allows you to target your
post to a specific audience (i.e. women ages 30-60 who are interested in Bible studies and attend a Christian church).
The key to sucess, then, is being very clear about who your potential customer is – to think niche, not number of likes. – Ann Handley
- Post less but post more. In other words, keep your posts brief, but write them often. In order to begin engaging with you, your Facebook friends want to know that you will be there often and will respond quickly. Here’s the reaction you don’t want when you post on Facebook: “Oh, wow, I forgot about him!” Instead, you want this reaction: “Oh, wow, I love when he posts… let’s see what he wrote today.”
Be an Insta Expert
As you likely know, Instagram is completely image-based. You simply snap a photo, pick a filter, write a caption and post. While there are many creative ways that writers can use Instagram, we suggest that you use consistency of style in your posts. Here are some ideas:
- Offer a behind-the-scenes look at the writer life. Photos of your favorite coffee mug, writing spot or cat sprawled across your keyboard are perfect.
- Post selfies with fans and colleagues at book signings, speaking engagements, etc. Be sure to tag the people in the photo to gain more exposure.
- Use an app like Studio (iPhone or Android) to add quotes from your writing onto beautiful images, like the stock images we mentioned above.
Be sure to set up your account to automatically post your Instagram images to Facebook.
For more great ideas, head over to The Creative Penn’s post How to Use Instagram As An Author Plus 10 Ways to Grow Your Account Organically.
Using social media can be intimidating, but with a little experimenting, we know that you can not only become
comfortable with it, but really begin to enjoy the interactions and exposure it brings.
At Certa, we believe our authors have incredibly important stories to tell and we are here to help you tell
them, whether in a published book or a quick tweet. Let us know how we can help you today!